Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Gravitating to Meditating

Meditation. It is a technique aimed at mind/body connection. It can be as simple as relaxing for a moment or as complex as finding the right religious or spiritual path to a higher you.

Do you meditate? Does your mind stop chattering long enough for you to listen to the wind?

I have practiced meditation since I was 12 years old. That is a journey of 50 earth years. Meditation has helped me become who I am today.

There are many different forms of meditations. Meditation is often used to reduce stress, bring down blood pressure levels, or to visit other places/worlds for answers.

Through meditation, answers can be given to concerns, healing techniques can be employed to heal your physical, mental, spiritual or energy self, and peace of mind can be found.

There are so many ways to meditate. Find what is comfortable for you. I meditate by using a simple cross-legged position or by laying down. Sitting in a chair, no matter how comfortable, does not work for me.

You can listen to music or not, burn incense or not, burn candles or not, have your eyes closed or only partially closed, and meditate indoors or out.

Meditation centers me and helps me to see things clearly and to relax. Did you know there is a meditation to send back energies from those you've connected with during the day while refreshing your own energy levels. I often use this one.

Before I begin any meditation, I clear my mind, do yogic deep breaths, connect myself to Mother Earth, and connect myself to the Universe. There are times when I am in meditation for a long period, other times where I meditate less than 5 minutes. The amount of time doesn't matter. Once I feel my body take in that deep long relaxing breath without my help, I know I have achieved what I set out to do.

To meditate is to clear the muddy silt out of the clear waters of your mind and to bring yourself to a peaceful state of mind, a state where you have eliminated all the mental and emotional toxins we so like to collect in our lives.

How often you meditate is really up to you. It is recommended to meditate at least once a day. In our current hectic lives with the challenges brought to us by family and friends and obligations, that doesn't work. I don't like to be confined by the 'you shoulds.' I like to do what I sense is best for me.

Never stress yourself about how, where, how long, when to meditate. Your own being knows what you need. Accept that and allow it to just happen.

Where to go when you meditate? You can meditate in total emptyness of your mind. You can pose a question and meditate on the answer, you can ask yourself what it would take to help you feel better and wait for the answer again, you can visit the Lower World, Middle World, or Upper World.

Sometimes in meditation, images will come to you, visions can happen, an answer may expose itself. I've seen and felt many things, and this has sealed me as one with our great Universe and reinforced to me that I am part of this amazing energy that courses through all living things, along with feeling that great sense of peace and love.

Why am I discussing meditation? Because if you are a creative person, a thinker, a writer, a poet, an artist, or have many demands on your life, you lose your energy. Recharging yourself can help you be healthy and can promote more creativity.

My favorite time to meditate is after my yoga practice. I seem to be more in tune with myself and the Universe then. On those occasions, I will listen to music. I prefer Celtic, Native American, Chinese or Japanese sounds. I sometimes burn incense or a candle.

Throughout the rest of the day, I find my self releasing that deep peaceful breath and I find I stay in a better frame of mind.

Why this post? Well, I thought I'd give us all a gift. A gift of 7 or 8 minutes of peace and serenity. If you don't have 7 or 8 minutes, spend what time you can allot for yourself. Remember, we are never alone on this journey. We may stumble, we may fall, we may think our mortal life is too hard to finish, but through peaceful meditation we can learn to smile and dance to life's rhythms.

Here for our peace of mind and energy renewal is Enya's 'Pilgrim' (for aren't we all pilgrims traveling along a road) and a youtube video to help us remember we are connected to all things, and those all things are endless.

Thank you, Enya, for years of beautiful music and for this lovely song.

Pilgrim

Pilgrim, how you journeyon the road you choseto find out where the winds dieand where the stories go.All days come from one daythat must you must know,you cannot change what's overbut only where you go.

One way leads to diamonds,one way leads to gold,another leads you onlyto everything you're told.In your heart you wonderwhich of these is true;the road that leads to nowhere,the road that leads to you.

Will you find the answerin all you say and do?Will you find the answerin you?

Each heart is a pilgrim,each one wants to knowthe reason why the winds dieand where the stories go.Pilgrim, in your journeyyou may travel far,for pilgrim it's a long wayto find out who you are...

Pilgrim, it's a long wayto find out who you are...

Pilgrim, it's a long wayto find out who you are...and where the stories go.

I learn about meditation when I was pregnant. It helped me a lot. The nurses in the delivery room said I was so calm and they didn't believe it was my first time giving birth. If that doesn't prove it works, I'm not sure what will. ;)

i love to practice meditation. i say practice because the way i understand it, you never get it right, it just keeps evolving. anyway, i'm not really good at it because my brain keeps drifting away most times and i feel like i hafta conquer it! which is why i suppose i need to practice more, right?

i find that i REALLY need it during especially stressful and forgetful times in my life. if i cant get at least 30 minutes of mediation in during those times i am a mess.

Shelly, I love that idea. How inspiring. Our muses work best with music like that, I bet. Thank you for your comment.Pammy Pam, you cute lady, thank you for your comment. Those of us leaving in the Western world have a real problem with this, don't we? Thank you for the realization we continually evolve in and through our meditations.

I've never really officially set out to meditate, but I suppose I was meditating. It is almost like daydreaming but a bit deeper, I think. I do the daydreaming part a lot because I'll let my mind drift off to search for answers or just to focus on something and relax. But when I pray or listen to Quran, I find it is like meditation. We make thikr (a form of worship with prayer beads) and this could be similar to meditation. I know that it is relaxing and yes, it gives us rest and a recharge. By the way, Donna, I love the space pics; I always find it relaxing to star at space photos; they are so beautiful! And I like Enya and Celtic music, too! Take care!

This may seem like a bizarre question, but what is one supposed to think about while they meditate? I've heard the "clear your mind" advice, but I find it impossible to think nothing. Even while listening to wind I am thinking, example:

"Wow, the wind is loud. It sounds cold out. I'm so tired of cold. I need to make a book cover with snow on it for so and so. I should check flickr for pictures. while I'm in my email I better answer so and so. I need to tell them (whatever). it's almost lunch time. *insert random chorus of "food around the corner" ala bugs bunny cartoons* that little flea was cute. it's a shame fleas aren't really cute. etc etc. meanwhile there is usually another song playing in the background (it's been Little Boxes by Pete Seeger today)

but any advice would be welcome as I have flirted with meditating many times, with the above results.

I LOVE this post, simply because meditating is something I have always wanted to do, but something I can never accomplish. I'm not sure if it's my OCD, or if it's just... me... but I can never block out all thoughts, nor can I acknowledge the thoughts that DO enter my mind! But I do love meditation, I do believe in meditation and I do hope I can achieve an empty mind and a wonderful, calm meditation!

The Desert Rocks, lol - you remind me of Winnie the Pooh when he exercises and thinks of food. Thank you for your fun comment.Lena, that is exactly what prayer beads are for. Study of any good book is meditation because it takes you to that higher place, the place where your soul loves to be. I too love space pics for their calming quality. Thank you for your comment.Joleene, I struggled with the same issue for years until I found some advice from the Dalai Lama. I'll see if I can find it. Thank you for commenting.Elizabeth, I never thought of listening to new age on Pandora! Thank you for your comment and for this wonderful advice.Angie, yes, so many of us Westerners cannot close our minds. It takes a lot of practice. And your OCD can be part of it, but meditation would certainly help that. If I find the Dalai Lama's advice on meditating, I'll send it to you too. Thank you for your comment.

I love meditating. I do it for prayer, for relaxation and stress relief. @Roger (and other people who have trouble clearing their minds)-there is a type of meditation that rather than clearing your mind involves focusing the mind. You pick something like an idea such as love, or something more tangible like a tree. Then as you close your eyes and do your deep breathing, you visualize your subject of choice. As you meditate you can think about different things related to that object or subject, but you have to keep your mind focused on that object somehow. This really helps to clear the mind as opposed to trying hard to think about nothing. It's also very helpful in training yourself to keep control of your thoughts.